Dear Minister,
We are a community of economists and researchers who rely heavily on Statistics Canada’s data and analysis to help Canadians understand what is happening in their own country. We are dismayed by and concerned about the news that Statistics Canada is aiming to cut more than 850 jobs, a 12% reduction in staffing, over the next three years. A cut to Canada’s foremost data department is a cut to evidence-based decision-making. It cuts to the heart of an informed democracy. We urge you to reconsider these cuts and protect Canada’s vital data source.
We’ve been here before: 15 years ago, Stephen Harper’s government cancelled the mandatory long-form census and replaced it with a voluntary household survey—upending critical data collection and compromising research and service planning for years. The cancellation of that detailed data source created massive gaps in economic, social and health reporting across the country, from urban centres to remote Indigenous communities. Major public backlash from community groups, businesses, academic institutions, and all other orders of government eventually led to the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census under Justin Trudeau’s government.
The impact of these planned job cuts at Statistics Canada—and similar job cuts planned across the broader public service—will be felt across the country. The Statistics Canada cuts will result in reduced data collection, diminished data quality, loss of vital expertise, silenced marginalized voices, less government accountability to the public, costly mistakes, less information in a time of turmoil and mis/disinformation. Combined, this will diminish the public’s trust in public institutions and even in our own communities.
Data underpin knowledge. It is knowing who we are, and who we are becoming. Data reflect us back to ourselves, and that strengthens our understanding of who we are as Canadians and how we can make our lives better, collectively. If, as Prime Minister Carney recently stated, we are to “stop pretending, name reality, to build our strength at home,” support for research and development, including high-quality statistics, is essential to Canada’s future—and is all the more important in the current geopolitical context.
Statistics Canada is a world leader in statistics. Recent investments in disaggregated data generated new information and insights about Canada’s rapidly changing society. As we watch in horror the assault on knowledge and science in the United States—the assault on truth—cuts at Statistics Canada send precisely the wrong message. We urge you to reverse course.
Peggy Nash, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Katherine Scott, Senior Researcher, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Marc Lee, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
David Macdonald, Senior Economist, National Office, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Erika Shaker, Director, National Office, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Rachel Pettigrew, Research Assistant, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Andrew Longhurst, Senior Researcher & Political Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Hugh Mackenzie, Research Associate, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Molly McCracken, Manitoba Director, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Ricardo Tranjan, Senior Researcher, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Rob Kristofferson, President, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Andrew Jackson, Retired chief economist, Canadian Labour Congress
Michael Savage, Director of Research, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Jordan Thompson, Union Representative, AULReP Alberta Union of Labour Relations Professionals
Nora Loreto, President, Canadian Freelance Union
Mark Hancock, National President, Canadian Union of Public Employees
Cheryl Wing, President, Ontario Public Service Staff Union
Mike Yam, National Representative, Research Department, Unifor
Clint Johnston, President, Canadian Teachers’ Federation
Sharon DeSousa, National President, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
Bert Blundon, President, National Union of Public and General Employees
Linda Silas, President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Nathan Prier, President, Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE)
David Mastin, President, Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
Prosper Canada
Right To Food
Anupam Das, Professor of Economics
Richard G. Lipsey, Emeritus professor, Simon Fraser University
Andrea Reimer, Adjunct Professor of Practice, UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Marina Morrow, Professor, York University
John Calvert, Adjunct Professor
Tim K Takaro, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Jessica Vorstermans, PhD, Associate Professor, York University
Penny Gurstein, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
Hui Xie, Professor of Biostatistics
Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
Matthias Hoben, Associate Professor, Helen Carswell Chair in Dementia Care, York University
Geoffrey Reaume, Associate Professor, York University
Kiffer Card, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Eric Doherty MCIP, Transportation Planning Consultant, Ecopath Planning
Farah Ahmad, Professor, Health Policy and Management, York University
Nicole Herpai, PhD Stduent, University of Manitoba
Gustavo Indart, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
Larry Kazdan
Lindsay McLaren, Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
Gerardo Otero, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Simon Fraser University
Mathieu Perron-Dufour, Économiste et Professeur, Université du Québec en Outaouais
David Fairey, Principal Labour Consuting Services
Mario Seccareccia, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Ottawa
Robert W. Dimand, Professor of Economics, Brock University
Kanna Hayashi, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Robert Chernomas, Professor of Economics
Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work
Pat Armstrong, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus
Peter A. Victor, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, York University
Travis Salway, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Andrew Reeves, Postdoctoral Fellow of Ecological Macroeconomics and Metrics
Dr. Thomas Gunton, Professor, Simon Fraser University
Ellie Perkins, Economics Professor
Dr. Joan McFarland, Professor of Economics (retired), St. Thomas.University
Ian Hudson, Professor, University of Manitoba
Jin Huh, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto
Erick Villagomez, Lecturer, University of British Columbia—School of Community and Regional Planning
Judy Lewis (retired), Probus
John Holmes, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University
Bryan Evans, Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
Anya Rakhecha, Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of Health
Mark Hudson, Professor, University of Manitoba
B. Kimiko, Director, Collective Bargaining Services
Jesse Hajer, Associate Professor, University of Manitoba
Suzanne Mills, Associate Professor, McMaster University
Adam King, Assistant Professor, Labour Studies Program, University of Manitoba
Manda Vrkljan, University College Librarian, University of Toronto
Mark Thomas, Professor of Sociology, York University
Elizabeth Comack, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of Manitoba
Aditya Rao, Member of the Board of Directors, Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre
John Stapleton, Principal, Open Policy
Dr. Gillian Petit, Senior Research Associate, University of Calgary
Jerry Buckland, Professor, Canadian Mennonite University
Charles Smith, Professor, Political Studies, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan
Jin Huh, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto
Linda Briskin, Professor Emeritus, York University
Michael C. Wolfson, Retired GOC Senior Executive
Roderick Hill, Professor of Economics (retired), University of New Brunswick
Ian Johnson, NSGEU (retired)
Herb Wiseman
Thomas Granofsky
Joanne Hussey
David Camfield, Professor, Labour Studies & Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba
Jennefer Laidley, Independent researcher and Maytree Fellow
Derek Fudge, Former National Director of Policy Development
Barb Thomas, Labour and Racial Justice Educator/Facilitator
Edward Sale, Chairperson, Augustine Centre Inc.
Kacy Doucet
Matt Corbeil
Genevieve Latour
Simon Morin Gélinas, Analyst
Lindsay Larios, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Manitoba
Trevor Manson, Co-chair
Dr. Sarah Marsden, Director of Systems Change and Legal, First United
Andrew Woolford, Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Manitoba
Melissa Vezeau
Kalysha Closson, Adjunct Professor, Simon Fraser University
Shannon Mok, PhD Candidate
Simon Bourassa-Viau, Économiste
Sarah Cooper, Assoc. Professor, University of Manitoba
Stéphanie Audet Brazeau, Traductrice
Shelly Tessier, Analyst
Joanne Richmond
Julia Smith, Associate Professor, Labour Studies Program, University of Manitoba
Louise Birdsell Bauer
Eric Miller, Adjunct Professor and Director, York University
Gillian Parekh, Professor
Nicola Chopin
Dr. Kate Tairyan, Senior Lecturer, Simon Fraser University
Kearon Bennett, President, Ottawa Engineering Limited
Diane Dyson, Lead, Highfield Consulting
Merryn Maynard, Manager, Social Impact, The Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security
Sue Maxwell, Chair, Zero Waste BC
Taiya Robert, Policy Analyst
